Reviews by anteater:

More User Reviews:

Solid red and amber appearance, even keeled 1" head to it. Nice aroma, legitimate dry hopping, HUB always delivers in this department in my experience, and you even get a nice dallop of that malt sweetness that you can get out of a legitimate red beer, even some tropical smell to it. Interplay = nice.

More of the same in the taste, solid hopping, but not so much that it vitiates what makes a red a red. Caramel enjoyable, a bunch of C hops, some more modern ones for the aroma, nuggets seem to pair best with red ale malt bills as well, bitterness not out of control. Munich like mild spice presence pairing with smoothness. Dichotomy! Alcohol hidden well.

This beer owes Nugget Nectar no apologies, one of the things I liked even better here was how the bitterness was not over the top. A legitimate challenge to the throne I says. Only problem is, this stuff is expensive, at $8.50 a bomber. (899 characters)

Medium off white to tan head recedes into a pretty decent lacing over a clear reddish copper colored ale.

Aroma is full of different things including a strong sweet caramel malt, a earthy grassy to grains, a light citrus hops, and a light pine to pine cone.

A full medium bodied beer with a sweet roasted caramel malt mixed with a light bitter hops that has a little citrus coming through and a light sweet earthy pine taste.

A lightly bitter on a dry aftertaste is all that is left of this 22 oz. bomber after a short time with this bottle on the table.

A pretty good imperial red, the taste seems to almost border on have a alcohol hint to but then seems to back off, which seems to me what beers should do, If I wanted to drink something that tasted like alcohol I'd drink whiskey or something.

650ml bottle. Nice old-school Space Invaders imagery on the painted label - the laser cannon is a long neck, whuh?

This beer pours a somewhat hazy medium bronzed amber hue, with two fingers of thinly puffy dirty beige head, which leaves a complete coral reef of lace around the glass as it quickly recedes.

It smells of fairly prominent grapefruit and orange citrus hops, some lesser pine resin notes, grainy, biscuity, and foremost caramel malt, with an industrial alcohol edge probing the boundaries. The taste is still pretty damned hoppy, the varied American breakfast table fruit well ensconced, but it all seems to have been taken down a significant notch, allowing the burgeoning caramel and toffee-tinged malt to undermine all. This is a boon to the general balance of this whole deal, and most welcome (uh, I left my Hophead membership card in my other pants), along with a crazily AWOL booze component.

The bubbles are pretty well petered out after an initial pre-pour effervescent display, the body a steady, unassuming medium weight, and default-setting smooth. It finishes rather off-dry, the now-emboldened malt claiming reign, over a bristling, still zippy and bitter citrus/pine hoppiness.

A pretty well-wrought big-ass amber ale/DIPA, whatever, this swats balls (and encroaching aliens) without apology - tasty enough from both barrels, and is conspiratorial in its increasingly incredible alcohol obfuscation. Tread lightly, if possible, and barring that - enjoy the ride. (1,494 characters)

A: The beer pours a dark reddish brown color with a nice fluffy head of white foam. While the lacing is not as epic as the name would suggest, it does stick around on the sides of the glass at a medium level.

S: Galactic Imperial Red gives off a strong caramel malt aroma along with some bitter pine hops and a bit of citrusy floral notes. There are also some random grassy bits floating around in there.

T: Very earthy and dank with major bread and sweet caramel and molasses malt flavors. There is a strong pine component from the hops in the beer as well, which helps to bring balance to this galactic space invader. The booziness in this beast is noticeable but not overpowering.

M: This beer has a medium body with a chewy mouth feel. It's a bitter beer that leaves your mouth feeling slightly sticky, but it's a good thing. Carbonation is medium.

O: While not really an Imperial IPA, this is a damn good imperial red ale. The retro kitsch factor from the label is what got me to buy it, but I ended up loving this beer. A great balance of over-the-top malt and hops make me one happy drinker. (1,246 characters)

On tap @ the Hopworks BikeBar (Portland, OR) on 9/5/11. Served in a tulip glass.

Pours a deep clear ruby, topped with a ½ finger cap of slight off-white head. The retention on this is great, with this having a rich ¾ finger flare-up when swirled, and throwing up a robust cascade of spotty lace onto the sides of the glass. The aroma smells floral, piney, and VERY spicy. Underneath lays a green and ripe feeling twang of grapefruit, sweet caramel, and burnt toast. Man, this has a real flavorful power to it in the nostrils.

The taste is aggressive with the hop flavors here, with a bold grapefruit character and assertive notes of resins and spice. This is buffered by a malty backbone of caramel (which really takes to those ripe citrus flavors here) and a darker roasted feel that lingers in the finish along with leftover remnants of pine, spice, and bitter rind. The mouthfeel is fuller bodied, with a big mouth filling creaminess that spreads all of those aggressive and rich flavors out into the mouth. This is really creamy feeling underneath and while there is some light warmth to the body, there is no way that this feels almost 10%. The alcohol is extremely well hid here and I think that really speaks to the depth and robustness of the flavor profile.

This is a VERY nicely done Imperial Red, with a warm and flavorful heft to the profile that kept me coming back sip after sip. It’s awesome that this is available in bottles. I’m going to have to track a few of these down. (1,500 characters)

A - very hazy swampy reddish brown, one finger of tan head held respectably, decent random lacing as it recededS - candied fruits, dark toasted bread, pepper, and caramel, smells very much like an ESBT - pepper and raisins up front, molasses maltiness, touch of pine hops, just like the nose i find the flavour to be very ESB likeM - towards the heavy side, somewhat spicy with a healthy bitter finishO - bottle says imperial red, its categorized on here as a DIPA, and I think it tastes like an ESB which in some ways is in between those two, so all in all a solid brew that is big tasting yet sneaky drinkable for 9.5%, price was a bit high relative to previous HUB bombers in Alberta but thats a minor detail (715 characters)

Pours copper with a large, lasting head.Nose shows floral and piny hops along with resinous notes. Some sweet clean malt underneath.Minty, spicy, herbal and resinous hops as flavours. Also booze and sweet bready malt followed by an aggressive bitterness that doesn't quite match the malt.Syrupy body. Could be a little lighter perhaps. (338 characters)

Smell: (4.0)- The smell is somewhat masked in the beers body. But I get some wonderful sweet caramel scent, as well as a sharp bitter pine hop, with some fantastic citrus and floral notes all melded together in perfect unison. Very grassy, earthy, and herbal as well.

Taste: (4.5)- Great bready and sweet caramel malts. Not too overly sweet which I like. There is a big bready earthy touch to balance this bad boy out. The super bitter pine forward hop certainly plays a big role as well in balancing this beast. Some light caramel, brown sugar, and a roasty earthy flare hits first, with a nice grassy herbal and floral finish. Certainly well balanced while still being very bitter. The heat from the alcohol exists, but is not overpowering or boozy. Very well done.

Mouth Feel: (3.5)- Medium bodied, chewy and cloying. Drying from the mad bitterness, and leaves the palate a bit sticky. Overall expected from the style. Well carbonated and bubbly.

Overall: (4.0)- Overall a very nice and smooth malty imperial red. If you don't like very bitter early boil hops, this beer probably won't be for you. It's certainly for me. Very true to the style, all organic, and hits the spot. I like that it isn't so overly syrupy and sweet like so many can be. Well worth the purchase. (1,515 characters)